Even as Springfield’s city council passed an ordinance Monday night tightening restrictions on public display of skin, a group opposing rape culture plans a “SlutWalk” protest event downtown.

“There is an additional event planned,” council member Justin Burnett said at Monday’s council meeting. “It’s called the Springfield SlutWalk, and this is appalling to me. It’s planned in October, and they plan to go beyond the square setting, multiple streets.”

“That needs to be shut down. This law would do that.”

According to a closed Facebook group created by 94 activists — a mix of men and women —Springfield SlutWalk 2015 “is a protest walk designed to raise awareness about the prevalence of rape in our culture and to challenge Springfield area residents to face the reality that rape is too often excused or downplayed by referring to aspects of a woman’s appearance.” The walk is planned for 8 p.m., Oct. 2 in downtown Springfield.

“I don’t think that Councilman Burnett fully realizes the intentions of the SlutWalk, and I think he is reacting emotionally rather than trying to look into what we’re doing and what we’re advocating for,” said Destiny Hodge, a key organizer of Springfield SlutWalk and Missouri State University student.

“As a culture, we have a long way to go,” Hodge said. “When a woman is sexually assaulted, her sexual history and appearance are questioned, rather than her attacker’s.”

Gabriel Cassady, a spokesperson for the SlutWalk activists, said that the group is reaching out to legal counsel to “make sure we keep protesters informed of their rights.”

“SlutWalk protestors often dress in revealing attire such as short skirts, stockings and skimpy tops or nipple coverings,” said a news release issued by SlutWalk activists Tuesday.

During previous SlutWalk events in cities such as St. Louis, Chicago and Atlanta, protesters have dressed in a variety of ways. Photographs of those events available on Google Images show women completely covered from the waist up, or wearing bras, or occasionally topless but for some tape over the areola. Men sometimes go shirtless.

“I know that we don’t plan on breaking any laws at this point, so that limits us,” Hodge said, “but I think that (protesters) are definitely going to be taking advantage of the protest and calling out that women can be wearing whatever they want, and you don’t have the right to assault them or make judgments.”

Springfield activists began planning a local protest walk in August, as Free The Nipple rallies on Park Central Square began to attract public attention Aug. 7 and Aug. 23.

According to a map posted on Facebook, the SlutWalk route would take protesters on sidewalks south from Park Central Square, along South Avenue, west on McDaniel Street to the City Utilities bus terminal, through the terminal and east on Park Central West back to the square.

(Photo: Springfield SlutWalk)

In recent weeks, activists were at work preparing for SlutWalk, prior to the passage of the new indecent-exposure law Monday night. In that meeting, Springfield’s city council passed bill 2015-227 by 5-4 after a heated discussion.

The new ordinance amends Springfield’s indecent-exposure law to require coverage of women’s breasts from the top of the areola down, as well as complete coverage of the buttocks of both genders.

Meanwhile, the new ordinance removes old language forbidding “the showing of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.”

SlutWalk is a global movement that emerged in Toronto, Canada in 2011, after a Toronto police officer reportedly said “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

“SlutWalk is a worldwide movement against victim-blaming, survivor-shaming and rape culture,” states slutwalktoronto.com. The site claims that similar protest walks have been organized in 200 communities in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

“Rape culture” is an umbrella term used by feminists and activists to address issues surrounding apparent tolerance or acceptance of rape. In a 2014 essay in Time magazine, writer Zerlina Maxwell proposed several definitions of the term, including “rape culture is when we teach women how not to get raped, instead of teaching men not to rape.”

At 2:04 p.m. Tuesday, Springfield city council member Justin Burnett emailed a News-Leader reporter to clarify his statement from Monday night.

“While I am supportive of free speech, if this event violates the indecent exposure ordinance, that would need to be addressed. From what a local group — Residents Against Indecent Exposure — has shared with me, some members of this walk are seeking to de-stigmatize sex, while others seek noble objectives, albeit in a manner that is irresponsible. Subjecting families to nudity should not be allowed, but I am completely supportive of free speech within the boundaries of the current law.”